Fifteen minutes of fame

Images Reverend Wright couldn't be more American by making sure he grabs his fifteen minutes of fame.  The media has done a fantastic job highlighting non-issues throughout the campaign asking about wearing the American pin on your lapel to questions about the candidates past relationships and memories instead of not making it about about the issues.  After all, reality TV has taken over our living rooms why not continue what sells to the Presidential campaign.  The Bush administration has taken spin and marketing to a new high without ever focusing on the real issues.  The media has been the hand that feeds the Bush administration for the past 7 years so why would it be different now.  Why ask the hard questions. 

Now we get to discuss Reverend Wright in our living rooms.  Let's consider how many relationships we have each had in our past or even in our present lives that are questionable. Who are other people to judge why.  Those past and present relationships don't define my views or who I am.  Those are relationships I had for reasons that I might not be able to explain today.  Time and place.  The question is, who is Obama today and is he the best candidate for President. 

Obama went to a church where he found comfort.  Perhaps he found the services and conversations intellectually challenging.  They made him think.  Ends up his pastor is a hate monger which Obama might have missed or might not have but it is apparent through his campaign (and his past work) that he is a uniter not a divider vs. our esteemed President who used the same words and was lying through his teeth.

What is interesting about this Rev Wright is how the press has jumped on it and made it an issue.  An issue that I was worried about from the very beginning which is race is a bigger issue than any one wants to admit.  My concern is that people won't pull the lever for a black man because he is black, no other reason.  He might be the best choice but there are a large group of Americans who can't look past his color.   Sad but true.

The media, who has gone down a road that is so ugly and unattractive, should use the opportunity of Rev Wright's fifteen minutes of fame (he seems to think the election is about him) to discuss race relations, to discuss where we are as a country and where we have come from.  Instead, they have used race as something to create fear, hate and a division among voters.  There is no doubt that Wright does not represent Obama whatsoever but the media has attempted to link the two.  Why?  It is no different than the last CBS debates which were like watching Entertainment Tonight.

Our country voted in George Bush because he was a guy people could see having a beer with.  He ended up being a guy to have a beer with who lies to your face and stabs you in the back.  Nice.  Why aren't we  and the media focusing on the issues in this country with the attempt to get voters to vote on the most qualified person who can pull our country out of this mess that it has slowly fallen into over the past seven years.

Here is a saying that the media should be talking about because Obama knows this better than any of us....never trust too pious a man. 

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Joanne Wilson Joanne Wilson loves food, books, and music. She lives in New York City. Her husband Fred and children Jessica, Emily, and Josh are bloggers too. More »

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